FREE THROW ISSUES

[Porky's Butthole]

PORKY HATES TO KEEP HARPING ON THIS BUT...........

VS WKY
8-15
50%

VS COL
4-8
50%

THIS IS A PROBLEM!   WHAT ARE THEY DOING ABOUT IT???????????    Yes Jop was ice when it counted today.  Fair enough, but they have to get this sorted moving forward.

[Uncle Rico]

PORKY HATES TO KEEP HARPING ON THIS BUT...........

VS WKY
8-15
50%

VS COL
4-8
50%

THIS IS A PROBLEM!   WHAT ARE THEY DOING ABOUT IT???????????

Losing games

[The Sultan]

1. It's not much of a problem.

2. Probably what they usually do.

[NickelDimer]

There were only two free throws in that game that mattered, and we made them when they mattered

[tower912]

THIS IS A PROBLEM!   WHAT ARE THEY DOING ABOUT IT???????????

Cancelling their trip to the sweet 16.  Don't deserve it.

[Jay Bee]

#FTsNoMatta

[Judge Smails]

Seems like they tend to make them at crunch time.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

https://x.com/painttouches/status/1771988223788564976?s=46&t=EPgIwcjzegj_0y0aa83fHA

I got this

[Viper]

There were only two free throws in that game that mattered, and we made them when they mattered

make em early the throws late don't matter

[The Sultan]

make em early the throws late don't matter

Don't miss a shot and they most certainly don't matter. Never turn the ball over and they won't matter either.

Why are you under the impression that free throws should be guaranty?

[Big Papi]

Could be an issue.

Not sure what they can do about it the next 4 days to improve.

If you have the answer to that, I think you could make a lot of money.

[Viper]

Don't miss a shot and they most certainly don't matter. Never turn the ball over and they won't matter either.

Why are you under the impression that free throws should be guaranty?

everything you state I agree. But, and aside from a wide open uncontested lay up/dunk, free throws are...uncontested. Easy peezy. 80% should be automatic.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

everything you state I agree. But, and aside from a wide open uncontested lay up/dunk, free throws are...uncontested. Easy peezy. 80% should be automatic.

Exactly three teams hit 80% or better this season:

Villanova
Indiana State
Princeton

None of them made the NCAA tournament.

Only 8 NBA teams shoot better than 80% from the FT line.

Your expectations are whack.

[PointWarrior]

Buzz's team missed 16 free throws in a game that went to OT, but free throws don't matter....

[Tyler COLEk]

C'mon guys, it's not that hard to understand statistically. Free throw percentage is just not a primary influence on a basketball team's performance. Don't you have the humility to defer to high level coaches across the game, to understand that they aren't prioritizing it for a reason? Shaka isn't going to waste a precious two hours of practice time in March on free throw shooting. There are 1,000 better uses of that time.

You have these opinions because it agitates you emotionally to see missed free throws. You feel like it should be easy. You're not right about that. You're not the ones out there. And you're certainly not the ones coaching. Thank God for that.

[PointWarrior]

C'mon guys, it's not that hard to understand statistically. Free throw percentage is just not a primary influence on a basketball team's performance. Don't you have the humility to defer to high level coaches across the game, to understand that they aren't prioritizing it for a reason? Shaka isn't going to waste a precious two hours of practice time in March on free throw shooting. There are 1,000 better uses of that time.

You have these opinions because it agitates you emotionally to see missed free throws. You feel like it should be easy. You're not right about that. You're not the ones out there. And you're certainly not the ones coaching. Thank God for that.

But if Buzz's team makes 1 of their 16 free throws they missed in regulation, they advance to the Sweet 16.   Analytics aside, seems like FT's matta...

[Tyler COLEk]

But if Buzz's team makes 1 of their 16 free throws they missed in regulation, they advance to the Sweet 16.   Analytics aside, seems like FT's matta...

Or if they had one additional field goal made. Or if they got one more defensive stop. Or if they got one more defensive rebound. Or if they forced one more turnover. Or if they turned it over one fewer time. Or if they got one more block. Or if they didn't step on the line for those three point attempts. Or if they had attacked Shead a earlier in regulation and fouled him out then. Or if Buzz drew up a few better plays. Or if they had focused a little more on Sharp's offensive game in preparation yesterday. Etc.

[Osiris]

Ask Texas A&M if free throws matter.

[Uncle Rico]

Free throws do matter.  They also don't matter. 

[Stretchdeltsig]

Free throws matter. Perhaps Shaka should offer an incentive to the best free throw shooter of each game such as an extra large shake or a chocolate donut.

[Uncle Rico]

Free throws matter. Perhaps Shaka should offer an incentive to the best free throw shooter of each game such as an extra large shake or a chocolate donut.

That's a violation and he'd get fired

[Hards Alumni]

Or if they had one additional field goal made. Or if they got one more defensive stop. Or if they got one more defensive rebound. Or if they forced one more turnover. Or if they turned it over one fewer time. Or if they got one more block. Or if they didn't step on the line for those three point attempts. Or if they had attacked Shead a earlier in regulation and fouled him out then. Or if Buzz drew up a few better plays. Or if they had focused a little more on Sharp's offensive game in preparation yesterday. Etc.

This guy gets it.

[frozena pizza]

We have two clear weaknesses - rebounding and free throws.  We ranked last in the Big East in FT% and it has not been good so far in the tournament.  A lot of it has to do with who ends up getting to the line and we did hit them pretty well in the BE tournament.  Doesn't mean we can't win more games or hit more of them but to say it has nothing to do with success at this point in the season just doesn't make sense. 

[tower912]

MU is 245th in ft%.  Houston is 296th.   Separated by less than a percent.  Somehow in the sweet 16.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Sigh I see we have to do the math again.

Marquette has shot 70.7% from the FT line.  Thats good for 245th in the country.

If they increased their FT% by 5% to 75.7% they would be top 45 in the country for FT%. Hopefully we can agree that top 45 out of 362 is aacceptable.

That increase of 5% would mean we would have made between 27 and 28 (27.621 to be exact) more FTs over the course of the season.

We've played 36 games, so divide that by 36 and you get .767 extra points a game.

You're complaining about leaving less than a point a game on the table.

In the micro, FTs matter. Joplins FTs were huge in that moment.  But over the course of a game, they matter very little compared to other factors. Over the course of a season,  they mean nothing.